Afghan authorities have drafted a deal giving the Turkish government control of more than a dozen schools in Afghanistan affiliated with the exiled cleric Fethullah Gülen. Western and Afghan officials believe the agreement is part of a bargain allowing Afghanistan’s vice-president, Abdul Rashid Dostum, who has been accused of abducting and torturing a political rival, to seek exile in Turkey. (20170531)

Afghan Turk CAG Educational NGO (ATCE). One Afghan and three Turkish teachers linked to ATCE organisation regarded with suspicion by the Turkish government were detained by Afghan intelligence officials on Dec. 12, 2017.

The teachers, three Turks and an Afghan, were arrested from Taimani area of Kabul nearly a week ago, where one of the Afghan-Turk schools is based in. A source in the National Directorate of Security said that they were released.(20171217)

In 2016, shortly before a visit to Islamabad by the Turkish president, Pakistan ordered Turkish teachers at schools run by a body called PakTurk International Schools and Colleges to leave the country.

The Turkish Maarif Foundation, a state-run education foundation, has taken over 12 schools and three tuition centers linked to the Fethullahist Terrorist Organization (FETÖ) in Afghanistan. Education Minister İsmet Yılmaz and his Afghan counterpart Mohammad Ibrahim Shinwari attended a handover ceremony at the Media and Information Center in capital Kabul on Feb. 26, 2018 state-run Anadolu Agency has reported.

The certificates of Afghan-Turk Cag Education (ATCE) Schools were not valid at the Organization of Islamic Countries who includes 59 countries. Because of that the graduated students could not continue their higher education in these countries. There was a victimization of students. But after Turkish Maarif Foundation is taking over the schools, therefore the graduated students can continue their higher education in Turkey and the other OIC countries. In return for control of the schools, Turkey has promised to double the number of Afghan-Turk Maarif Schools in Afghanistan, recruit new-highly qualified teachers, cut student fees, and offer more scholarships to Afghan students.

Turkish Maarif Foundation has recently taken over management of 12 schools and three education centers in Afghanistan run by an organization linked to cult leader Fethullah Gulen, who was made responsible by the Turk Government responsible for a failed coup in 2016.

Turkey on Friday, Jul 5, 2019 took over five additional schools previously run by the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ) in Afghanistan. "Afghan-Turk Kabul Ariana Boys High School," "Kabul Girls High School," "Kabul Darul-Ulum High School," "Kabil International Barakat High School," and "Kandahar Elementary School" located in Kabul and Kandahar provinces were the institutions handed over to Turkey's Maarif Foundation. Previously, the Turkish Maarif Foundation took over the full authorities of several FETÖ-linked schools in the war-torn country. With the latest move, all 13 FETÖ-run schools in the country have been handed over to the Turkish education body since an agreement signed between Ankara and Kabul on February 26, 2018 and ratified by the U.N. Secretariat. Turkey established the Maarif Foundation in 2016 -- after a deadly coup attempt -- to take over the administration of overseas schools linked to FETÖ. The foundation also establishes schools and education centers abroad, and a girls' high school was launched in Kandahar within that scope.(20190705)

Background:
Afghan Turk High Schools are the members of a chain of Turkish educational institutions established in 1995 and running under the auspices of Afghan Turk International Cag Educational Foundation for pursuit of excellence in education in Afghanistan. Anually Afghan Turk High Schools graduate talented and outstanding students, and students of these schools get the highest ranks in Afghanistan and over the world. In January 2014, Afghan Education Minister Ghulam Farooq Wardak said that he would like Turkey to increase the number of Turkish-Afghan schools in Afghanistan, opening a school in each province as an education role model.

The Ariana Afghan Turk High Schools were founded in year 1995 in Kabul and have been running successfully since its foundation. These high schools receive great support from the government of Afghanistan.

Kabul Ariana Afghan Turk High Schools (Boys)

Kabul Afghan Turk High Schools (Girls)

Mazar i Sharif International Afghan Turk High Schools (Boys)

Mazar i Sharif Afghan Turk High Schools (Girls)

Herat Afghan Turk High Schools (Boys)

Herat Afghan Turk High Schools (Girls)

Kandahar Shah Husain Hotak Afghan Turk High Schools (Boys)

Sheberghan Afghan Turk High Schools (Boys)

Jalal abad Afghan Turk high school ( Boys)

More Background:
Currently six Afghan-Turk schools are operating across Afghanistan where over 8000 students, including girls, are enrolled. Because of the new agreement, some 150 pro-Gulen Turkish teachers will be expelled from Afghanistan after the handover which is expected to happen soon. The schools are in Kabul, Mazar-e-Sharif, Herat, Kandahar, Jalalabad and Sheberghan cities. Afghanistan initially opposed to Turkey’s demand to shut down the schools, but couldn’t resist Ankara pressures, according to sources.The schools will remain open, but run by an institution directly operated by the Turkish government.(20170226)